`Runners Preparing for NorCal-SoCal Split

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – After enjoying the comforts of the Icardo Center for its first two home games of the year, the CSU Bakersfield volleyball team will hit the road once again. The Roadrunners are headed out to start a four-match stint away from home with Big West Conference contests scheduled against UC Davis and UC Riverside this week.

"Our team will have a long stretch on the road with four games," said Giovana Melo, CSUB's Director of Volleyball "but because of our preseason schedule I think we are used to playing away." The `Runners completed the entire non-conference slate without a home match, but CSUB still managed to post a 7-1 record before returning home.

"This weekend there is a day in between matches, which allow us to recover and prepare for the next match," Melo continued. "We are excited for the challenge ahead of us. UC Davis and UC Riverside are great teams. We are ready to go to battle with them. With every team in the Big West, we know it will be a battle.

After splitting their conference-opening weekend on the road, the `Runners dropped a pair of tough matches at home last week against CSUN and UC Santa Barbara. Bakersfield (8-4, 1-3 BWC) will look to get back on track this Thursday, Oct. 7, with a road match against UC Davis (5-10, 1-3 BWC). The Aggies opened league play with a win against UC Riverside, but they have since dropped three-straight matches against three of the conference's top teams thus far.

CSUB will then face UCR (4-10, 0-4 BWC) on Saturday, Oct. 9, in Southern California. The Highlanders are searching for their first league win of the season, but UCR does have some success in Riverside this year, posting a 2-3 record at home.

Thursday's match against UC Davis will start at 6 p.m. (PT) while Saturday's match in Riverside has a 4 p.m. first serve. `Runner fans who cannot attend the matches in person will be able to watch CSUB live via streams from both universities' athletics websites.

Links to live streams, live stats, and more are available at GoRunners.com/Live. When fans open the live stream links, they will find CSUB's matches seemingly behind "premium content" walls, but by clicking "Sign Up", fans will find that a "Free Trial" is available just by providing some basic contact information.

~GoRunners.com~

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